Crescenta Valley High boys’ soccer shot down by Sylmar
LA CAÑADA — Following 80 minutes of regulation, the Crescenta Valley High and Sylmar boys’ soccer teams were immediately thrust into a penalty-kick session during a quarterfinal match of the Ralph Brandt Tournament on Friday night.
Unfortunately for Crescenta Valley, its bid to win the tournament championship came to a close after Sylmar recorded a 1-1 (5-4) victory at St. Francis High’s Friedman Field.
Sylmar goalkeeper Angel Noriega scored in the final round to turn back the Falcons (3-0-1).
“We worked hard and penalty kicks are always a tough spot,” said Crescenta Valley Coach Grant Clark, whose team will meet El Camino Real or Rio Mesa in a tournament consolation contest at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Burroughs High. “It’s tough when you go from regulation straight to penalty kicks, but those are the tournament rules.
“We haven’t done much on penalty kicks at practice. There are some good things we can take from the game and there’s stuff we can work on in order to get better. Give credit to Sylmar because they earned it.”
Sylmar improved to 2-2-1 and will meet El Camino Real or Rio Mesa in a semifinal match at 7 p.m. Saturday at St. Francis.
Sylmar took a 1-0 lead on a goal in the 19th minute by Iban Alaniz.
Crescenta Valley tied it at 1 in the 31st minute. Crescenta Valley’s Jason Winicki was tripped up in the penalty box, resulting in a penalty shot. Justin Wright, a reigning All-Area and All-CIF first-team selection, lined a shot inside the left post to even the score.
After neither team could score in the second half, the match went to penalty kicks.
Crescenta Valley went first, getting a goal from Wright. Jorge Lopez of Sylmar made it 1-1 to conclude the first round. Clyde Hovsepian of Crescenta Valley and Sylmar’s Pablo Fabian converted in the second round to make it 2-2. In the third round, Crescenta Valley’s Henry Barkhordarian and Alexis Gomez of Sylmar each scored to make it 3-3.
Noriega made a diving save against Kevin Ginosian to begin the fourth round, before Sylmar’s Gabriel Cabral scored to give the Spartans a 4-3 advantage.
In the final round, Winicki scored, but Noriega converted on his opportunity to seal the victory.
“We felt good going in, but we just came up one shot short,” Wright said. “It’s a coin flip when you get to penalty kicks, and it’s hard to lose in that situation.
“You can take things from the defeat and put yourself in a position to learn.”
